Wind turbine project starts in Ishpeming
Wind turbine project starts in Ishpeming
By STEPHEN STACY
ISHPEMING — The first step in the installation of a 162-foot wind turbine at the Pioneer Bluff senior citizen apartment complex in Ishpeming began on Thursday.
Contractors from the Houghton-based Yalmer Mattila Contracting began excavation work for the structure’s foundation.
“We’re pleased to see this project moving forward,” said Ishpeming Housing Commission Chairman Rudolph Kemppainen. “What attracted us to this project was the potential savings we’ll see in utility expenses at the facility.”
The Ishpeming Housing Commission, which manages Pioneer Bluff, has entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with WindStor Power Co., a subsidiary of the downstate Farmington Hills-based McKenzie Bay International.
Under the agreement, which has not been finalized, the housing commission will purchase on-site generated electricity provided by the turbine at a fixed rate of 9 cents per kilowatt for the first 15 years of the 20-year agreement.
The WindStor system is designed to integrate distributed generation of wind power — installed on or near urban buildings — with grid, off-grid and other power sources, according to the McKenzie Bay International Web site.
The wind turbine is expected to provide about half of the electricity requirements for the facility with the turbine generated power costing about 10 percent less than what the the commission is currently paying for UPPCO power.
Consultants with Engineering Consultants Inc., of Ishpeming, are working in conjunction with WindStor as the company’s local representative in project coordination and site design.
“It’s a pretty significant structure,” ECI president Carr Baldwin said. “We should be generating electricity by Aug. 1.”
The turbine will provide a fixed, long-term supplement to electricity requirements for the 88-unit low-income senior apartment building.
The installation will be the Michigan-based company’s first commercial urban installation.
For more information on WindStor, visit the Mckenzie Bay website at www.mckenziebay.com.
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